Monday, March 23, 2015

Just reflecting on the 2016 elections, Governor Deval Patrick has already said he will not be running, but, I can't dismiss he should be a candidate as well at some time in this country.

Of Ferguson he stated:

August 20, 2014

"I am sick of it...

...I'm sick of unarmed black men being shot by police. I'm sick of the lawlessness on the streets. I think everybody's tired. When are we gonna get through with this kind of thing? I'm hopeful, with the Attorney General of the United States going out, that federal law enforcement will be fully engaged, and I hope bring to a decision quickly. But that's a really tough mission that he's set out on, and I know that from some experience."

The death penalty was never a part of the original amendments to the US Constitution.

It is the ACLU’s position (click here) that all five current methods of execution violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, which prohibits the imposition of gratuitous pain. The most commonly used method of lethal injection, now the primary method of execution, violates that prohibition by using a sequence of drugs that creates an unnecessary risk of excruciating pain. This unconstitutional practice has been facilitated by the secrecy surrounding the development and implementation of lethal injection protocols in most states. 

The Eighth Amendments reads:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

That is it. That is all it says. It doesn't state there can be a death penalty. Someone decided along the way the death penalty was an option the country needed. The excuse is "...as a deterrent." 

The Founding Fathers never envisioned the need for the death penalty, otherwise, I am confident they would have spelled out exactly what that looks like. 

Here is a discussion (click here).

When I lived in Boston the one thing I looked forward to the most was to have "The Boston Globe" on my dining room table everyday.

March 22, 2015
By Joshua Green

...But the biggest benefit of a Warren (click here) challenge is that it would force an intra-party debate about the direction of Democratic policy in the post-Obama world. Why is Warren necessary to spark this discussion? Because the current roster of likely or potential candidates — former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb — poses so little threat to Clinton that she probably will not feel compelled to offer much detail about what she stands for or how she will govern if elected. As H.W. Brands, a University of Texas history professor and presidential biographer told Bloomberg News this week, “Less is known about Hillary Clinton’s positions on domestic issues than any other leading candidate since Dwight Eisenhower.”...

I understand why The Boston Globe would have this editorial. I applaud the gumption it took to write it when no else was.  But, that is typical of Boston, isn't it? "You have heard it here first." The guts to put forward a statewide health care insurance structure was not a minor accomplishment, but, if Massachusetts didn't jump in with both feet, we would never have a model for a national law. It is very easy to say, Massachusetts and it's mentors have saved many, many lives. Considering this level of commitment to American standards and quality of life is a lot to respect.

So, this editorial is not a minor issue. Senator Warren in some ways is more humble than she should be. She is important and there is an aspect of the future only she has the vision for. That is a scary. Massachusetts has known many of the 'one of a kind' person. Someone with a vision that makes life better for everyone.

Sooner or later she has to give her vision a platform and an awareness of it's potential impact on the future. 

For as necessary her voice and vision is, she is allowed to be humble. She is a great person. There is no doubt about that in my mind. Her loyalties to the American people, our values and dreams is from a pure heart and an alert mind. She is a treasure.

The year 2016 is important. It is the leading edge of taking back the American Dream. President Obama has laid the ground work, but, there is more to do. 

There are many Democrats that could have the immediate attention of the American people including all those mentioned in the editorial and others such as the Former Governor Rendell of Pennsylvania. I hear that from my mother ever once in awhile. "I wish Ed Rendell would run in the primary." If there were a national call for candidates we'd have all sorts potential including the current Governor Brown of California. The Democratic Party is lucky it has a lot of talent and great, dedicated Americans. I am not worried about the potential for a viable candidate for 2016.

Does Hillary Clinton need the primary and the challengers to hone her message? I don't know if that is possible. I have been working that over in my mind and I think Hillary as a candidate for President is a complicated picture. 

I have no doubt every Democrat in the country wants to have a perfect campaign and a winner in the White House, however, in that lies a question. The question is "Do we trust Hillary as a candidate to be the President we seek and the winner we need?" 

I can trust her judgement and if she decides to only come to the platform for the nomination then we have a candidate only we know in our hearts and I trust her with that knowledge. I also trust her knowledge of the real world as it is extensive and in a capacity her spouse has never known. 

I want Elizabeth Warren to be President. But, I want her to be President when she is ready and confident she can win the country over as I know Hillary Clinton will.

Waterproof paper and ink already exist.

Leave no stone unturned, electronic data is safe, too.

Tablet Pc Cover (click here) Waterproof Shockproof Snow Dirt Proof Protection Case for Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (Yellow)

When one is in 'the field' waterproof paper and ink is a requirement as is waterproof matches, especially in the tropics or what is left to the tropics. 

To do anything differently would take the chance of losing important data. if it is important enough to write it down, it is important enough to be sure it survives the day.

So, when sea level rise overcomes classrooms along both coasts of the USA, we are ready.

I think Cruz is announced to decide about the right wing extremists. Previous to "W" the Evangelical fringe was never the center of the party. "W" and Rove brought them along to insure the vote even though they had to undermine democracy by sabotaging Florida. The Evangelicals had money. They have always been their insurance since 1998.

If Cruz can pull the majority Evangelicals the Republicans can decide whether they can win without the money and votes.

The only sincere right wing candidate is the Preacher. Huckabee. He has already stated, if the Republican Party accepts Gay Marriage he is out of there.

Cruz will decide the fringe for the value it holds.

Another wrongful conviction. Really? You know I haven't kept count, are most of these death row convictions in conservative states?

March 23, 2015

By Terry Tang

Judge tosses murder case against woman on death row in son's death. (click here)

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona woman who spent more than two decades on death row in her 4-year-old son's killing was exonerated Monday, bringing an end to a controversial case that relied almost entirely on the work of a detective with a long history of misconduct.
Debra Milke hugged her supporters and sobbed as she left the courtroom, where a judge formally dismissed the case less than a week after prosecutors lost their final appeal. In a brief hearing, Judge Rosa Mroz also allowed Milke, who has been free on bond since 2013, to have her electronic-monitoring ankle bracelet removed.
Milke was convicted of murder in 1990 in the death of her son, Christopher. Authorities say Milke dressed him in his favorite outfit and told him he was going to see Santa Claus at a mall in December 1989. He was then taken into the desert near Phoenix by two men and shot in the back of the head....

Will she be getting any kind of psychological treatment when she leaves prison. That should be part of their reconciliation decision and a cost the state bears and not the former inmate.

 

Here is one other question...

...why is the agenda of space exploration to Mars and mining the moon so important to a few people when we haven't even solved the problems we face on Earth? 

Before the Franklin Institute or anyone else poses the possibility of a Mar's colony, they should question the importance of Earth and the people living here when they push for more money.

Sol isn't due to nova for a long time. 

The real question about space exploration is what quality control is there with the physicists today and in the future. Anyone can plug an equation into a computer and have it perform over and over, but, it is a very different reality than the challenge of sincere space exploration where the risks have all been mitigated. 

Once there is a colony on Mars, who is going to move it to the edge of the solar system over time? Where are the scholars, on Earth or Mars?

Don't burn the bridges, build them! 

Who is going to build the better widget, Wall Street or governments?

Here is some food for thought.

I like reading alternative authors. They are fascinating and I support their ideas and work because they provide an opposing view. I am not a sheep going over a cliff by some extremist that will destroy the American economy and change the face of the global community. I do, however, entertain other's thoughts in deciding about the world I live in. It is a good thing.

'Journey' (click here) is an overworked word these days, but I can think of none other to describe the making of a documentary film. Ten years ago, a film of mine could be made in six months, even less. The main work was the research, the journalism.Whenever I felt confident I had the basis of a 'story', I would go to the ITV Network in the UK and seek a broadcast commission. If that was forthcoming, ITV would fund the production. The difference now is that I, the film-maker, must raise most of the production money. Also, my documentaries have changed considerably in recent years. They are now made for the cinema as well as TV, and for the internet....

John Pilger is one of those authors. He has been prolific in his life and writes books and not just articles for others to consider. He wrote much of his early work with grants. He never had anything else to worry about, he simply explored the course of human events and the potential for a world different than it is today.

In some ways he is the Hadron Collider of alternate thought. I shouldn't go that far, but, in some ways that is a somewhat fair analogy.

Today, the grants he applied for; not simply given to him; are disappearing. The question is why? 

Let me pose this question.

What happens to freedom of thought and will when only a small handful of people control the entire wealth on Earth?

I am not going to answer that question for anyone but myself.

The premise NAFTA was built on was completely wrong for the circumstances of the three countries.

The Flint GM plants didn't disappear because the product was no longer desired by the public. The product demand never ended, but, the ability of the people to purchase the product is gone.

Projections on Trade Balance, Jobs Prove Wrong (click here)

In 1993, Gary Hufbauer and Jeffrey Schott of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) projected that NAFTA would lead to a rising U.S.trade surplus with Mexico, which would create 170,000 net new jobs in the United States within the pact's first two years. Similar figures were trumpeted by the Clinton administration and other NAFTA proponents. 

Hufbauer and Schott based their projection on the observation that when export growth outpaces the growth of imports, more jobs created by trade then are destroyed by trade. Instead of an improved trade balance with Canada and Mexico, however, NAFTA resulted in an explosion of  (CHEAP) imports from Mexico and Canada to huge U.S. trade deficits.

According to Hufbauer and Schott’s own methodology, these deficits meant major job loss. Less than two years after NAFTA’s implementation, even before the depth of the NAFTA deficit became evident, Hufbauer recognized that his jobs prediction was incongruent with the facts, telling the Wall Street Journal, “The best figure for the jobs effect of NAFTA is approximately zero...the lesson for me is to stay away from job forecasting.” Despite this, PIIE is at it again, forecasting future export increases and income gains from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). 

THE PREMISE is completely wrong. The premise was a theory that when correctly applied the principle works, BUT (and it is a big but) all those aspects have to be equal to improve trade and create more jobs.

By all rights, NAFTA should have sold more cars to Canada and Mexico. The problem began when CEOs realized they could move their operations to Mexico for cheap labor and make megaprofits.

When the jobs left for Mexico the targeted consumer was still Americans. What occurred was the loss of jobs, the loss of income and the consumers disappeared. Americans have been struggling back from that point forward. Now, the USA produces the working poor. There isn't even a welfare system to assist them and if the Republicans have their way there won't be any welfare system and OCO will receive all that funding.

The idea Americans on assistance are lazy is the furthest from the truth. Americans have to organize and go on strike so their employers stop paying a poor wage. It is the only way. The USA will never lose it's place in the global market because there are large amounts of consumers with an income. The income over subsistence is disposable and there is every indication (cell phones) when a product is offered American consumers will purchase it. 

The Republicans like the Working Poor. They like cheap labor to compete with other labor markets even in Bangladesh. 

The birth right of the promise of the American Dream belongs to all Americans. The Republicans are redefining that because they adhere to crony politics to fund their campaigns. This is not that difficult for anyone to understand. 

If NAFTA worked the way it was suppose to work, every American would be earning not just a living wage, but, a very good wage. When that happens Americans CAN fund the education of their children and build a better mousetrap, but, until that promise is returned to the American people, this mess of the Republicans will continue.

If President Obama would produce a balance sheet on how TPP and TTIP would benefit the Working Class in the USA there would be far less resistance, but, the working people of the USA have learned a very valuable lesson with NAFTA. The American worker would now be facing re-establishing their share of the market in the way of wages with countries such as Vietnam and China. 

It is not reasonable to believe the Pacific countries will even practice fairness. To date these countries cheat. They aren't going to stop cheating, they are going to find new ways of cheating. The American doesn't want to hang in the balance and wait for things to 'be right' so they can reclaim their economy and promise.

It is up to the leaders in the USA to PROVE life is going to be better with TPP and TIPP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership). Right now, we know it won't.

LOCAL ECONOMIES, Everyone!  

February 12, 2015
By Miles McKenna and Ian Gillson

...On February 4, (click here) the World Bank’s International Trade Unit hosted Phil Levy, a senior fellow on the global economy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, who has been following both negotiations closely. Levy spoke with World Bank staff about the potential implications for developing countries as negotiations move forward in what he calls “bargaining among behemoths.”

At this point in the negotiations, one thing is clear: there are still more questions than answers....


I don't believe President Obama or his administration wants to hide anything from Congress or the American people. What I do believe is that he has no substantial answers or reassurances from other partners going forward. 

The American people have a right to reassurances. We now have vehicles we purchase with 100,000 miles warranties. We don't simply want President Obama to kick the tires and dive into a trade deal. The American people want reassurances and those aren't forthcoming. The other partners can pressure the administration all they want; the American people want answers and are in absolutely no hurry to have another disaster on our hands.

These countries forget what occurred under Bush. I suppose we are all completely recovered and ready to put together a trade group to improve the global economy. I don't think so. 

What are the production costs leading to MW production of electricity. Add to the oil and gas consumption the COST OF THE ELECTRICITY PRODUCING PLANT.

Wind Turbines ARE the energy producing plant. When replacing a coal plant with a gas plant consider the fact the cost of production begins with the well drilling and does not end until the plant goes online with production. In that scenario is the realization Wind Power Farms cost far less to produce electricity than any other energy source, than possibly solar.

The longevity of the energy source, namely wind, is endless and costs nothing. Gas, oil and coal costs from the day it is first planned for energy production. 

The greenhouse gases produced by wind and solar are ZERO.
 
In 2013, (click here) the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 10,908 kilowatthours (kWh), an average of 909 kWh per month. Louisiana had the highest annual consumption at 15,270 kWh, and Hawaii had the lowest at 6,176 kWh.

Kilowatt Hours (kWh) is 1000 watts. One thousand is 10^3 or 10 X 10 X 10 = 1000. There are 1000 kWh in 1 MW.

The drilling company operates (click here) in accordance with a contract which specifies that the well will be drilled to a specific depth. The contractor is paid on a per day or per foot drilling rate.

 In 2007 it cost $4 million to drill an oil well and $3.9 million to drill a natural gas well. The average cost to drill a well was $574/foot of depth. 

Drilling costs have increased as oil prices and drilling activity have risen.  In 2000, when oil prices were $26.72 /B, drilling costs were $593 thousand per oil well and $126/foot.  For 2006, when prices averaged $59.69/B, drilling costs were $2.238 million per oil well and $402/foot.

The most expensive wind energy is offshore. The construction requires floating platforms and equipment. The costs inland are far less.

These are estimated costs per offshore wind are below with an exchange rate of 1 Euro to 1.1 USA Dollar. Between 2004 and 2006 the cost to build the wind farms increased simply because the demand for them increased and the parts manufacturers hadn't anticipated such a demand. Prior to 2004, the cost of wind power per MW (Megawatt) or one million watts....

That is 10^6 or 10 X 10 X 10 X 10x 10 x 10= 1,000,000 Or the understanding 10^6 equates to six zeros. That is standard math equivalent for one million. Six zeros.

But, to clarify; prior to 2004, the cost of wind power per MW (Megawatt) or one million watts was falling in cost by 10% per year. 

This is an image of the first windmills used to produce power. This image is from 1988 on the Ohio farm of Charles F. Brush. Kindly notice what appears to be a gantry for entry to the gear house at the middle of the fins. This wind mill operated for 16 years. At the time these machines on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were being discovered and built the average person believed electricity was the work of the devil. How hideous to think that a godly concept would light so many bulbs with the flip of a switch. Certainly, the art of making candles was more toil and god's method.
 
Investment costs, million €/MW O&M Cap. factor
Min Average Max €/MWh
2006 1.8 2.1 2.4 16 37.5
2015 1.55 1.81 2.06 13 37.5

Scarey. When Bain Capital is throwing in with existing management to profit from wind energy, it makes one pause.

March 22, 2015
By Chisaki Watanabe

...JWD Holdings K.K., (click here) set up in February and equally owned by the fund and Japan Wind President Masayuki Tsukawaki, will pay 580 yen a share, Japan Wind (click here) said in a statement Monday. The price is 25 percent higher than Friday’s close of 463 yen.

“Bain Capital will work together with the current management led by Mr. Tsukawaki,” Bain said in a statement. “We will support further development of wind power generation business through providing support for funding and strengthening management infrastructure for stable growth."...

I thought conservatives never messed with "The Free Market."

Texas shouldn't sequester itself into eliminating the only true endless energy, Wind Power. Texas needs to survey their need vs what is a viable source with all safeguards in place. The sincerely endless supply of harnessible energy is wind. I'd hate to see Texas left behind and out of the mainstream.

March 22, 2015
By James Osborne

Thousands of wind turbines (click here) have sprung up across West Texas and up and down the Gulf Coast. Companies as diverse as Google and Dow Chemical are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in Texas in a race to lower their carbon emissions. With almost 20 percent of the country’s total capacity, Texas has become the undisputed king of wind energy.

With so much success, state politicians are asking whether it’s time for Texas to end its support for the renewable power industry.

State Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, the chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, has filed legislation to end the very renewable energy program he championed a decade ago, when wind power was still in its infancy.
What began as a goal of 2,000 megawatts of renewable energy in 1999 was eventually increased to 10,000 megawatts, to be met by 2025. But wind boomed far beyond estimates. Texas passed that 2025 goal five years ago and now counts 12,800 megawatts of wind power — at times supplying more than a quarter of the electricity on the grid...

How are the book sales coming?

FOX News doing a good job for everyone? The implications of exposure through social media and other broadcast enterprises is extensive. Just think about it a minute. No reason for me to be helpful.

Discretion is the better part of valor.

March 23, 2015 
By The Daily Caller

In January of this year (click here) a group within ISIS calling themselves the CyberCaliphate hacked into U.S. Central Command’s (CENTCOM) servers and compromised not only the military database, but also Twitter and YouTube accounts.

Military.com reports they then proceeded to issue threatening messages to U.S.military personnel. Although the Pentagon has issued no official confirmation, the hack and subsequent threats appear legitimate. The White House kind of did confirm and kind of didn’t at the same time.
This is some scary stuff folks!...

I am not the only one worried. People should consider shadow identities rather than their own. 

March 22, 2015

...A Pentagon spokesman (click here) said the information could not immediately be verified but "we are looking into it." The military services have repeatedly warned personnel to be careful in their use of social media to include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram....

The implications could render Facebook worthless. And all everyone did was click OK to terms and conditions. But, that is nothing new, the recruitment of young adult or teenage Muslims is all online. 

March 21, 2015
By Michael S. Schmidt and Helene Cooper

...Defense Department and F.B.I. officials (click here) said that they were aware of the website and were investigating the posting.
It does not appear that the information had been hacked from government servers. One Defense Department official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said that most of the information could be found in public records, residential address search sites and social media.
The officials said the list appears to be drawn from personnel who have appeared in news articles about airstrikes on the militant group.
Some of the names also appear to be drawn from the Defense Department’s own official reports on the campaign against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.
But the list also included armed services personnel and others in the United States or elsewhere who have had nothing to do with the bombing campaigns, officials said....

Afghanistan is a primary example in an occupied American state that is already failed.

Simply because there is a US military presence in a country such as Yemen or Afghanistan doesn't mean thing, except, the USA military base can defend itself and kill people. That is all that means. 

Simply because the USA military leadership says, "Yemen is not a failed state because the USA is there."; means nothing. It HAS BEEN a failed state as Afghanistan is today. This women was burned to death because someone in the crowd decided it needs to be done. Anarchy. This is Kabul. This is a successful state, huh?

22 March 2015

The coffin of a woman, (click here) killed by a mob in Kabul on an apparently false charge, has been carried by women, marking a break with Afghan funeral customs.

Where is the power sharing government today? According to The New York Times the stable Afghan government is now in the USA asking for more money and more weapons.

Perfect timing. They are here just in time for the money and arms they need to stop women from being burned in the public square in Kabul. 

Former President Hamid Karzai, left, President Ashraf Ghani, center, and Afghanistan’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, right, at a ceremony this month marking the first anniversary of the death of former Vice President Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim. Credit Rahmat Gul/Associated Press

Ghani is a new King?  Did he order the immolation of that woman in Kabul? How does he explain that death? His government is working? This is what he calls a government?

March 20, 2015

...And staff members under Mr. Ghani’s authority (click here) are even directly writing and carrying out policy for the government, leaving some ministry officials wondering what their jobs are anymore, some officials say, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering the president.

All that, and other consolidation measures, are happening as the completion of the American-backed plan for a unity government shared by Mr. Ghani and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, remains hung up in delay and dissent, leaving many cabinet posts and governorships unfilled. It is one of the pressing issues hanging over Mr. Ghani’s first presidential visit to the United States, scheduled to begin Sunday night.

There is growing concern, however, that cooperating with Mr. Abdullah is not high on Mr. Ghani’s list. Some critics of the president believe that he sees the continuing deadlock as a useful chance to consolidate power before Mr. Abdullah’s side can settle in — and that the president’s desire to single-handedly reshape Afghan politics could take him down a more authoritarian path....

The USA needs to leave Afghanistan and the military needs to take all the equipment it brought there. Ghani and the US military will argue they need to have a military in order to be sure the government survives. The USA military is a caretaker capacity while the people attempt to live through drone strikes. 

It is nonsense. 

The ONLY reason why the USA serves a purpose in the region of Afghanistan has nothing to do with a power sharing government so much monitor the nuclear stability of Pakistan. That is the only reason the USA is there and can be justified to be there. The continued presence of the USA in Afghanistan is also causing increased pressure on Russia. Russia was planning on filling the void when the USA left Afghanistan. But, because there are tensions along the Ukraine border with Russia, the USA is planning to have a presence in Afghanistan to watch Pakistan and Russia. The USA military base in Afghanistan is a strategic decision based on many reasons and few to none are for the benefit of the Afghan people.  

As of today, the Ghani government is a figure head government no different than Karzai.

Russia is surrounded. Europe and NATO, the post Soviet countries, Afghanistan, Iraq and Japan and the Pacific fleet.

So, there it is. The USA recently leveraged more sanctions against individuals in Russia. This is Russia's response. 

22 March 2015
By Adam Witnall

Russia has threatened to target Denmark’s warships with nuclear weapons (click here) if the Scandinavian nation becomes a member of Nato’s missile defence shield.
In comments which have been met with anger in Copenhagen, the Russian ambassador to Denmark said a move towards better integration with the Western alliance would make it a “threat to Russia”, and that it would have to accept the consequences.

Mikhail Vanin told the told Jyllands-Posten newspaper: “I do not think that the Danes fully understand the consequences if Denmark joins the US-led missile defence shield. If that happens, Danish warships become targets for Russian nuclear missiles.”

According to a translation by the Copenhagen Post, Vanin added that while such a move would be “Denmark’s decision”, “relations with Russia will be damaged” and it would “lose both money and security”....

We have no business being in Afghanistan. Russia and China are just as worried about Pakistan's missiles.

The instability serves the military purposes of other countries. Russia is already in Egypt.
"Morning Papers" 

The Rooster

"Okeydoke"

Ted Cruz is running for President to save his Senate seat. I think Kentucky has the correct, if a sitting Senator is running for President it has to be sincere and should relinquish their Senate seat to run. Look what has happened in Republican Party. They have become a circus entertaining the issues of their wealthy ring masters.

The former Secrtary of State Zbigniew Brzezinski is correct regarding Russia, however, it has never been against the ropes as it is today. Ironically, the same Communists that have been driving the increased militarization presence in the Euro-Asian region are also causing their own economic problems.

There is no going back, Netanyahu changed the game in Israel. If he thought for one minute given all the Palestinian deaths under his administration is going to be swept under the carpet as soon as he reversed his election rant, then he doesn't understand his own circumstances. There has to be a place for Palestine. The violence against Palestine by Israel has driven Hamas. Netanyahu can take full responsibility for his own fears about Hamas. NOW, deal with it.

Yemen? What's the problem, the USA doesn't have a war base? That means what exactly? The Islamic State is Sunni. The people now occupying Yemen are Shia. Questions?

"Good Night, Moon"

Waxing Crescent

11 percent of full

3.1 day old moon








 March 16, 2015

Hunters asked to participate in survey

The Deer-Forest Study, (click here) currently funded through 2017, is a collaborative research project studying how deer, soils and vegetation interact to affect Pennsylvania forests. Penn State is partnering with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the state Bureau of Forestry in the research.